Sisters

Again, another spotting that made me smile.

Eleanor

This is how I want to remember my little Eleanor. What a nut! Today she randomly asked me if she could have a drink of pickle juice. I tried talking her out of it, but she was pretty persistent. So, I gave her the cup thinking she would hate it. Nope, the girl drank the entire jar. The funny thing is I remember drinking pickle juice as well when I was young. Disgusting.

And for the record, I have to write what she told me today. After putting a dress on for her she tells me, "Mom, your a good mom. Expect you get mad sometimes. And when I have my kids, they will not have to clean the house. But you are a good mom". I've got to remember to pull this quote out when she has a little one pitching a fit about picking up his/her toys.

We are working on getting her to stay in her bed all night. The past few months she comes into our room nearly every night and it's driving me nuts! She saw a barbie doll she loved at the store the other day, so we made a deal. If she can stay in her bed for 25 nights she can buy the barbie. The first night she came into our bed and when she woke up she was so mad! She told me, "I really wanted that barbie doll. How did I get in your bed". The girl is such a deep sleeper and I'm sure she's dead asleep when she gets out of bed. Last night around 4:30 I heard her yelling for me. I went in there and she told me she had a scary dream, but that she wanted her barbie doll so she didn't get out of bed. Sad. I know, but hey she stayed in her bed. She wasn't too happy when I told her she had to wait 24 more nights. I have a feeling this is going to be a long 24 days!

And you've got to love her outfit in the photos. A dress with a tank top over it. The dress was a hand-me-down from Lydia. Eleanor LOVES anything given to her from her cousins. If I want to trick her into wearing something I think is cute, all I have to say is that Lydia, Stacey, Emma or McKenna used to wear it. I guess I won't be taking her along on my next shopping trip.

Warn Out

I can't express how much I loved walking into my bedroom and finding this. This is totally Eleanor. I'm still smiling.

Seven Months

Today Amelia is 7 months. I guess I should start to come to grips that she is no longer a newborn. Here's what our little Amelia Badelia is doing at 7 months:
Still no teeth.
Loves to sit.
Does not like to be left in a room alone.
Loves to me played with and laughed at,
Prefers to be hanging upside down.
Loves cooked carrots and puffs.
Gags on peas.
Drinks from a straw and sippy cup.
Discovered toys. (took her a while because she just loved her hands so much)
Still a very light sleeper.
Is starting to sleep on her tummy.

Squishy

After getting her out of the bath today, I noticed that this little baby is loosing some of her rolls and dimples. It made me so incredibly sad.

Best Cousins

These two are having a sleepover tonight and Eleanor is beyond excited. Her bag is packed, outfit is picked out and she can hardly wait for 5:30 to come. Aunt Mindi is letting them make their own pizzas and giving them manicures and pedicures. There is NOTHING like cousins. I'm so glad these two little nuggets are so close!

Exhausted and Playfull!

Eleanor had her little friend, Aspen, over today and those two PLAYED! It was so dang windy out, but it didn't seem to bother them. Watching them played reminded me of how me and my sisters used to play. They were hauling all sorts of toys outside, pretending to make a house. It was cute listening to their little conversations and watching them run all around the backyard.

When John got home we threw some chicken on the grill and Eleanor played in the sprinklers. The girl must have some major tolerance to cold! It was pretty dang chilly out and yet she was getting soaked. When we finally got her to come in, we gave the girls a warm bath and fed them dinner. Eleanor started falling asleep while eating her food. I LOVE it when kids do that. I think it's so dang funny. Here she is totally zonked out on John's lap and the best part, it was only 7:30! Hopefully she'll play hard like this all summer and start going to bed at an earlier time.

So, once Eleanor was out for the night, Amelia decided it was time for all the attention. She was showing off and being adorable! John had her laughing pretty hard and she gave me a million kisses. Her kisses are the best! She grabs my face with both of her hands, pulls my face to hers and then kisses my entire face. It's the best! She's is also obsessed with hanging upside down. That's all the girl wants to do! She will squirm and arch her back until you give in and turn her upside down. Oh, and her other favorite thing to do is rip John's glasses off his face. I'm sure she doesn't understand why John doesn't find it so amusing!

I'm In Love

I seriously LOVE my baby! I love everything little thing about her. I am going to be so sad when she starts crawling and won't sit still like this. Have I ever mentioned how much I love her rolls and cheeks? Love them!

Eleanor Says...

Eleanor: Mom, some babies are just so rude.
Me: Why?
Eleanor: Because they want to play with my ponies, and that is just plain rude!!

Bath Time

I'd have to say one of my favorite things is giving the girls a bath a night. I love how much Amelia loves the water and I love watching Eleanor interact with Amelia. Amelia gets her little legs kicking so fast and splashes water everywhere. Eleanor likes to help wash Amelia and play with her toys. I love getting them out of the bath, lathering them up with Baby Magic lotion, putting their jammies on and cuddling with them. It just feels so homey and cozy after they are bathed. And it's even more enjoyable if the house is clean and John is home!

Our Saturday

Eleanor making all the flowers smell pretty by spraying them with body spray. She also got her eye pretty good.
Amelia just hanging out enjoying the spotlight.

Amelia's new favorite thing- hanging upside down. The girl is a complete dare devil. I pretend to drop her and she laughs. Poor Eleanor is just terrified watching it.

They Passed

Today was Eleanor and Aspen's last day of swimming lessons. These two are quite the little buddies and can cause a bit of mischief together! They were both pretty excited when their teacher handed them their little certificates. You would have thought they just received their PHDs. Now they both can blow bubbles, plug their nose and go under the water and float on their backs while their teacher holds them.

She's back and so is my messy house!

Eleanor is home, and we are all so excited! It about killed me to wait for John to get home from work to go pick her up. When we got to Kristene's, Eleanor ran up and gave each of us a hug and then asked, "Can I spend the night here?". Are you kidding me? She's been gone for six nights and has only seen us for 4 seconds is already asking if she can spend the night!

According to all, Eleanor had a blast during her little vacation. I didn't worry about her while she was at my mom's house just because she is so comfortable there and she of course knows everyone so well. I was a little worried about the few days she spent with Tricia and Shannon in Eager. She has probably only met both of them a few times, but they said she was good and loved playing with all the kids. On the way home she drove back with Kristene , Aunt Lynette and Brielle, again she's probably only seen them two or three times in her life. She did get a little carsick and threw up in Kristene's car. I'm sure they loved cleaning that up!! Other then the little carsickness, they said she was great and was hilarious. I'm sure she talked their ears off!

Amelia was sure excited to see Eleanor. Her little legs were kicking and arms were flapping. It was a cute reunion. To celebrate Eleanor's homecoming we visited our favorite taco shop, Deigos. It was fun and the food was fab! All during dinner I kept thinking how much Eleanor had changed in just the few days she was gone. I honestly could tell she had gained more confidence and she just acted older.

On the way home Eleanor tells me, "Mom, I saved a secret for you". I asked her what the secret was and she said, "I hope you got me a surprise". Well, good thing I had gone to the store earlier today and got a few balloons and some new Little Pet Shops. Of course, Eleanor fell asleep on the way home so we had to wake her for her surprise. She was more then pleased with her surprises. She even asked me to take a photo of her Pet Shops kissing. She also got a surprise letter in the mail from Mickey Mouse (aka junk mail) and thought it was the coolest. She then had to show me the new shoes Mimi bought her, the jewelry box she made and a few other things she brought home from Arizona.

All five of us (Bear included) curled up in our bed and talked ourselves to sleep. It was a crowded night, but I enjoyed it!

What A Face

Amelia has been so funny today! She just started sucking her lips like this, and it cracks me up. She's knows it cracks me up so she continues to do it all day long. We've got ourselves a little performer.

p.s. We'll be picking up Eleanor in just a few short hours. Can't stand it!

No Longer A Thumb Sucker And Some Other Things...

Today while playing with Amelia, I realized she is no longer my little thumb sucker! I will admit that I thought it was so stinkin' cute when she'd suck her thumb, with her little fingers wrapped around her nose. My favorite thing was to watch her start at the top of her head and work her way down to her mouth. After a few months she finally got figured out how to aim right into her mouth. I was a little nervous that she would be eight years old and still sucking her thumb. Lucky for me, she winged herself. I do admit that I miss watching her suck on her little thumb.

Amelia has enjoyed being an only child these past few days. She has been making us laugh non stop. She loves rocking herself when you hold her. The other day we were working down in the basement and she started rocking so hard that it was killing my chest. John and I were both laughing at her, and pretty soon Amelia realized it. Now she thinks it's the funniest thing and will just start rocking to try and get you to laugh at her. She has got the funniest laugh. It's a little deep chuckle. Nothing makes me happier! I feel like she has changed so much these past two weeks. Just this week I started putting her in the front part of the grocery cart without her car seat. I can't wait to take she and Eleanor to Costco this week. Every time we go Eleanor always says she can't wait until both she and Amelia and sit together.

Amelia is getting a little spoiled. She does not like to be put down for bed. I honestly don't mind rocking her to sleep. It's not going to be too long before she's too big for rocking. I seriously love this little girl and can't get enough of her!

Eleanor has been in Arizona for five days and we are really missing her!! I got to talk with her on ichat the other day and it made me miss her more. My mom was trying to talk me into letting her stay until Saturday, but we miss her way too much (and she does have swimming lessons to pass). Tricia probably thought I was a nut case for calling her 10 times a day. I hope to get some photos of her trip. Tricia took her to great grandpa Hall's house and she had a ball. My favorite story was grandpa kept taking out his fake teeth and smacking them. Eleanor wasn't to thrilled about it and kept telling him to stop because she didn't like that. Well, grandpa couldn't hear her (even when she's sitting on the arm of the chair, yelling right into his ears) and finally she just broke down in tears and ran into the other room. Tricia felt bad laughing, but I'm sure I would have done the same thing. Another funny thing was Tricia called me one night asking if Eleanor was afraid of heights. Apparently, the top bunk at Shannon's house was just a little to high for her! And of course she is having the time of her life at my parent's house. It's nice to know she is still headstrong about what she wears. I guess my mom couldn't get her to change out of a certain outfit and pair of shoes for church. I'm sure it was an awesome ensemble. Dang, just typing this is making me having with drawls, even from our little arguments! Only two more days, I seriously can't wait!

I had a great mother's day today. It was so nice spending it with John and Amelia. I'm excited for my dwarf lemon and orange trees. They are going to make a lovely addition to our kitchen! I've been spoiled these past few days. John took off work on Friday for our anniversary and we've been celebrating all weekend. It's going to be sad to send him off to work tomorrow. We went out to eat a few times, watched a couple of movies and even managed to get a lot done in the basement. Oh, and I'm pretty sure he was excited about his anniversary gift, six weeks of dance classes!! Honestly, I really do think he's excited (it's something he's talked about doing before I even thought of it!!). I told him it so we can win a dance competition on our cruise in September. So, let's just hope all our hard work pays off!!

It's Quite Around Here

This morning I dropped Eleanor off at Tricia's house for their road trip down to Arizona and a little part of me was so sad. I started missing her before she even left! I'm not sure why I'm feeling this way, it's not like this is her first time to go to AZ without us. I think the biggest reason why I'm sad is because she looked and acted so grown up this morning. She was so excited for her road trip. She came into my room this morning asking if it was time to go to Tricia's yet. It about killed her to wait a few hours! She made sure to pack her princess dress, rainbow swimsuit,barbies and would only wear her nightgown and slippers. I took her to Maverick and let her pick out a bag full of treats. She couldn't wait to get on the road!!

Tricia texted me a photo of Snow White (the barbie) driving and said that they were having a great time. She also said that within the first 5 minutes, Eleanor had already asked two times if they were in Arizona yet. I'm sure it's going to be a fun 10 hours!

As much as I already miss her, and will miss her, I'm so glad Eleanor gets to have opportunities like this. She adores Tricia and I'm sure she'll talk her ear off! It's also nice not having to worry about her when she's at my parent's house. Eleanor adores her Mimi and Grandpa so much!! She also loves spending time with her aunt's, uncles and cousins. I love that even though we live in another state, my children can still have such a great relationship with family!

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually missing all the noises of Eleanor! The house has been so quite today! I had high hopes of getting my entire house and laundry done today, but that hasn't happened. Amelia has been my little shadow. She got her 6 month shots yesterday, and they always make her a little fussy. I don't mind too much, because it allows for a lot of snuggling time! She did allow me to put her down just long enough to clean the kitchen and fold a few loads of laundry.